Stratton, Ontario, Canada | Yes, spring and fall and that is how the heifers fall into their breeding seasons. Before we started a fall herd, we had done it both ways:
1) Calve at around 2 years of age. Problems include: need of a heifer bull, breeding outside the cow breeding season, separating heifers and feeding on a higher plane of nutrition, hard to get high percentage bred back without 'babying' them, weaning smaller calves than the cowherd average, the typical calving problems in heifers (hiplocks, feet back, etc.)
2) Calve at 3 years of age: Problem: too much money and time invested in an animal before any payback. Also some heifers get excessively fat and milk production (read productivity and longevity) suffer.
Calving at 2 1/2 has nearly eliminated all these problems. Not completely problem-free, but a big difference in how it used to be.
Also notice that bred heifer buyers really like the fall born/spring bred heifers. So much so that you usually get a fair premium for them. |
Best age to breed heifers?
